Month: October 2025

What’s the problem with this arm? If you said it appears bruised from a gang of thugs who used their numbers (4) and qualified immunity to beat up a Veteran of America’s never ending wars you would be WRONG. Obviously the problem with this arm is that it doesn’t have star-mark of a forever victim on it, thus interesting the media to cover the story.

A man accused of assaulting another man over his Jewish identity last week made his first court appearance in Missoula County District Court on Tuesday morning.

Michael Cain, 29, is facing charges for felony Malicious Intimidation or Harassment Relating to Civil or Human Rights.

Court documents state Cain was talking to a man outside of the Poverello Center on Oct. 7 when he noticed the man’s Star of David tattoo. That symbol is common in the Jewish faith.

Prosecutors allege that after stating his own beliefs, Cain kicked the man in the head and punched him repeatedly before leaving the area.

Missoula Police responded and reviewed video footage showing Cain hitting the man, who did not fight back, according to court documents.

Did police review footage of the altercation inside Charlie B’s that started when Brandon Bryant was called a WOKE FAGGOT? No. Like I said, Mr. Bryant’s arm lacks the necessary ink to get anyone in Missoula to give a shit about what “law enforcement” did to him.

Brandon Bryant will be in court later this morning, and I plan to be there after doing an interview with a Boston news outlet about a possible serial killer.

And local media? They’re busy covering important stories, like how women don’t like men who put fish pics in their dating app profiles.

Yeah.

Thanks for reading!

Leah Hartley died by accident. Like many women in Missoula, Leah must have been clumsy and swimming-deficient. What else am I to assume with so little information to go on?

The Missoula Police Department (MPD) has released the medical examiner’s findings into the death of Leah C. Hartley, 38, in September.

The circumstances surrounding Hartley’s death were under active investigation, but it’s now been determined she died from asphyxia due to accidental drowning.

I have put in a request to the coroner, a role played by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, for the autopsy and toxicology report. The first response I got was bullshit, but now is not the post to detail the stonewalling. I just want the people who keep reaching out to me to know my blog silence doesn’t mean I’m not actively seeking information about ANOTHER suspicious death that local authorities seem to just want us, as a community, to NOT be curious about. Or anxious about. Or PISSED OFF about.

Despite my tendency to be righteously pissed off about a variety of local issues, I’ve done pretty well not being TOO angry in my recent public comments, which I’ll get around to posting soon. I’m also looking at my time contributing to the blog, 4&20 Blackbirds, and was surprised to see that Jay Karl Stevens passed away from a heart attack at the age of 72. Jay was the one who started the blog, then locked me out when I was a meanie to the Sheepdog, Bernie Sanders.

CORRECTION: this is NOT the Jay Stevens who established 4&20 Blackbirds. (Thanks Pete!)

For the context I wasn’t aware of until researching my book, here’s a little more about Jay Stevens:

Jay Karl Stevens (November 11, 1953 – February 19, 2025)[1] was a freelance writer and social historian.[2] Stevens was born and raised into a family of farmers in Springfield, Vermont. He attended school there as a child and then Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire, going on to the University of Vermont after graduation.[1]

He is the author of Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream (1987), which has been described as a “classic” by historian David Farber[3] and “the quintessential work on the history of LSD in America” by Kristin Robinson.[4] Historian of science and medicine Benjamin Breen also recommends the book for those wishing to learn more about the history of LSD.[5]

Stevens is also the co-author of Drumming at the Edge of Magic with Grateful Dead percussionist Mickey Hart and ethnomusicologist Fredric Lieberman.[6] He founded Applied Orphics, a digital marketing and distribution company, and Rap Lab, a program bringing at-risk teenagers and professional musicians and poets together.[7][8] Prior to his death, he was living at his family farm in Weathersfield Bow, Vermont, where he produced maple syrup.

Before I wrap up this short post I want to give a BIG THANK YOU to the woman who just donated $100 dollars to my gofundme page, which I haven’t promoted for many months. It was unexpected, very needed, and very appreciated. Especially after finding out the “police hold” on my record for not letting the PD vampires have my blood during their failed attempt to make a marijuana DUI stick.

Thanks for reading!

I was in court earlier this week dealing with my expensive driving on a suspended license charge (the result of a bullshit Marijuana DUI the city failed to successfully prosecute me on) when I saw a chronic public commenter appear before one of our Municipal Court judges. If you chronically watch Missoula City Council meetings, like I do, you know who I’m talking about.

After being in Missoula for at least two years, our system is just now officially declaring our nutter Santa as “unfit” to be prosecuted for the trespassing charge he got on the property of the Johnson Street Shelter, which is now closed. Because nutter Santa is officially unfit, the charges from the city have been dropped.

Does this man understand he can now legally do whatever he wants and face zero consequences? No, like I said, unfit, so despite the dropped charges he STILL tried talking to the judge. Hopefully nutter Santa isn’t dangerous like the guy a Sheriff in Colorado recently warned his community about.

Next up I checked Missoula’s jail roster recently for the guy in the picture below (middle dude with yellow/red hair) who recently pled guilty to threatening to bomb a Flathead County Courthouse.

A homeless man with ties to Kalispell admitted today that he threatened to blow up the Flathead County courthouse, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Kermit “Ty” Poulson, 46, pleaded guilty to interstate communication of a threat to damage property by means of fire or explosive, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years, a potential fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto presided and District Judge Dana L. Christensen will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for September 18, 2025. Poulson was detained pending further proceedings.

I hope his discharge means he went to Deerlodge, or a prison somewhere else, because he’s no longer in the Missoula County Detention Center:

When I was dealing with Kermit he was threatening my co-workers at the Poverello Center, where I worked from 2008-2016. Despite his physical disability, this lovely example of humanity was able to throw a chair across the room. Meth? I don’t know, I much more naive back then.

Last up we had an out-of-state killer visit our fair town recently because why not? If we’re good enough for a killer from Massachusetts why not an alleged killer from Oregon?

A man wanted in connection with a 2023 murder in Portland, Oregon, has been arrested in Missoula.

The Missoula Police Department and the FBI’s Montana Regional Violent Crimes Task Force arrested 21-year-old Connor J. O’Brien on Monday.

O’Brien was wanted in connection with the 2023 fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Tiara Atencio in Portland, Oregon. 

He is being held in the Missoula County Detention Facility, awaiting extradition to Oregon on the Murder in the Second Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon charges.

This is getting out of control. Later this week I hope to be speaking to a reporter from Boston who reached out. I will not be kind to my assessment of local law enforcement.

Thanks for reading!

The man pictured above, Monte Swanson, is probably dead, and he more than likely died sometime between Kevin Lino’s escape from Missoula and his eventual arrest in Louisiana. For more context on the case I helped local authorities with in 2014, read this post, because I go into detail about the MULTIPLE opportunities local law enforcement had to catch this killer in Missoula before he fled, but they FAILED with all three opportunities. Because of that failure, Monte Swanson more than likely didn’t survive the road trip south.

I’m writing about this case because, in researching it for the book I’m writing, I discovered TWO new indictments Lino is now facing from two cold cases involving two murders. Here’s what I found:

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, Lowell Police Commissioner Gregory Hudon, and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow announced today that Kevin J. Lino, 38, a former resident of Lowell, has been indicted for two separate acts of First-Degree Murder: the killing of Gary A. Melanson, 54, who was beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat under the Rogers Street Bridge in Lowell in 2010; and the killing of Douglas Leon Clarke, 30.  Clarke was initially believed to have died of an accidental overdose by the Charles River in Cambridge in 2012, but he was actually allegedly given an intentionally fatal dose of heroin, sometimes referred to as a “hot shot,” by the defendant after a dispute.

Did I call the Middlesex DA’s office last week? Yes, I did, and I’m going to make sure they hear the name Monte Swanson and the reason local cops and Sheriff Deputies couldn’t respond in a timely manner to actionable information I, myself, and two other individuals, gave them to stop a psychopath before he killed again.

It’s been a little over a month since I’ve started writing and I’m more than 1/3 of the way through a first draft of my manuscript. It’s an incredible story, and I feel blessed to be the one telling it. This means posting will continue to be light, but don’t worry, I still have enough disdain for the leadership of this dysfunctional town to ensure a few posts continue to get posted every week, so stay tuned!

And, as always, thanks for reading.

To bring you this post I endured a weaponized tedium that seemed intentional. After all, the topic I was waiting to make a public comment on was, ironically, a motion to move public comments from the back of the line on Monday nights to the front. One of the reasons given by the sponsors of this motion was to alleviate unnecessary wait time for what I contend is a senior citizen sweet-spot that doesn’t exist.

How else should a close observer of this sausage making interpret the pretzel rationale given by Council member, Bob Campbell, about why a 20 minute capped comment period would be an appropriate solution to the problem created by these policy shape-shifters in the first place?

Reports from the public will last 20 minutes, with three minutes per speaker. The rule change allows one comment per person per meeting, regardless of whether it’s early in the meeting or later. Once the 20-minute window closes, the city will move on to official business.

Comment will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We don’t want staff waiting all night for an unknown amount of public participation,” said co-sponsor Bob Campbell. “But this appears to be a reasonable combination to allow public comment from the get-go. The time period proposed is not an unreasonable ask of staff, of the media, or anybody else here to conduct regular business.”

To make sure these comedians know that I know what this is all about, I waited for an hour to then wait another awkward 45 seconds because, despite telling me I could unmute my online mic, I couldn’t, and had to lower my virtual hand and raise it again.

Did I mention the previous presentation was from our city’s IT? Dear God, it was awful. One commenter even said he saw someone leave while waiting. Irony everywhere!

Before I get to my comment I’ll explain what the original move was all about. Missoula’s political establishment remembers how uncomfortable it was during the waning months of 2019 to have angry public comments, week after week, from citizens who didn’t think a Wisconsin transplant oligarch wannabe needed $16 million dollars in TIF money. I even made a documentary about this time period!

My comment was quick and agitated because I had to wait so long, but can be summarized like this: fig leaf or no fig leaf, the emperor is still naked AF, so my preference would be for the hypocrites around the horseshoe to keep this example of their hypocrisy in place.

But, because there’s an election coming up next month, they chose to attach the fig leaf. How predictable.

Thanks for reading!